"It is gorgeously expressed on the nose showing grapefruit, mango, green rockmelon and lime zest characters. The palate is equally impressive and flavoursome with excellent fruit purity and intensity, backed by juicy acidity, finishing long and delicious. At its best: now to 2021" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2019

“Attractive pale straw colour. Effusive nose with aromas of guava and passionfruit. Interesting palate with those tropical flavours and a pleasing clean finish. Lovely density of flavour. Food accentuates the lovely primary fruit characters of the wine" Judge Dr Ken Dobler, Sydney International Wine Competition 2018

"Well-fruited, alive and fresh, a nice racy Sauvignon style in fine condition. Some body, good balance, ready to be enjoyed from now, through 2019" Peter Saunders, Aug 2018

"Grown in the Omaka and Wairau valleys, the 2018 vintage (4.5*) is a highly aromatic wine, full-bodied and fleshy, with strong, vibrant passionfruit and herb flavours, dry (3.9 grams/litre residual sugar) and crisp. Fresh, lively and generous, it's drinking well now" Michael Cooper

This 2018 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc has been made from the very best parcels of fruit we grow in the Omaka and Wairau Valley’s. The grapes are selected for purity and intensity giving a well structured and powerful Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The nose is intense and uplifted with aromas of stone fruit, red pepper, passionfruit and citrus. The palate has flavors of white nectrine, lime flower, guava and passionfruit. Sweet fruit on the mid-palate with a nice texture underlined by flinty/wet stone notes. Medium body and well structured with good length and balance. This delightful Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is ready to drink now and will benefit by another 1 - 2 years in the bottle. Expect it to be starting to drink at its best from mid 2019 onwards.

The 2018 vintage commenced with a very warm spring, ideal conditions for an early bud burst, with very few frosts. The early bud burst lead to flowering being 7 days ahead of average. This was helped along by growing degree days being up by 15% on the long term average. January and February 2018 were characterised with frequent spells of rainfall with February recording the highest rainfall on record in Marlborough. Despite this, March and early April had dry periods that allowed the fruit to develop to optimium ripeness with the full array of flavours showing. The grapes were harvested in the cool of the early morning to ensure we preserved the fruit flavours in the wine. We used a select de-stemmer harvester to softly handle the fruit. Once pressed off skins, the juice was then fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks with selected yeast strains to preserve the inherent delicate fruit flavours. Following fermentation, the wine was aged on light yeast lees to increase palate weight and complexity before it was bottled for enjoyment.

Food Pairing: Matched with asparagus and mushroom risotto as judged at the 2019 Sydney International Wine Competition.